TODAY: Media giant linked to Putin allies; West provoking a Cold War, Putin says, threatens Kiev; HRW accuses Crimea of human rights violations; Merkel says Russia not likely to stop at Ukraine; Shoigu discussing military cooperation with China; inflation to reach 9% by end of year; German and Polish diplomatic tit-for-tat; Deripaska given head role […]

TODAY: Politkovskaya killers convicted; no announcement on China gas deal; Medvedev warns against new Cold War, defends economy; global payment companies to stay in Russia; Prince compares Putin to Hitler; Moscow denies ninth consecutive Gay Pride parade. Five men have been convicted of the 2006 murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya – four of them for […]

TODAY: Kerry and Lavrov meet in Paris to discuss Syria; prominent U.S. journalist banned from Moscow; state purchases unregulated; new restrictions for Navalny? ‘New’ Magnitsky investigation opened; Kalashnikov regrets revealed; Nobel laureates appeal to Putin over gay rights. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry presented Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with two potatoes yesterday at their […]

TODAY: Putin’s state of the nation address emphasises Russia as bastion of conservative values; criticizes the West; realistic on economic woes. Three bank licenses revoked; Prokhorov snaps up copper mine; EU calls for Magnitsky sanctions. In a ceremony ‘full of pomp and circumstance‘, punctuated 34 times by applause, Vladimir Putin used his annual state of the […]

Russia News Blast

TODAY: Lavrov promises full investigation into Nemtsov murder; Putin loyalist appointed head of investigation; main witness flies to Kiev, says she saw nothing; Ukrainian lawmaker to sue Kremlin after arrest; Navalny request to attend Nemtsov funeral denied; Russians to spend half of income on food; death toll in Ukraine passes 6,000.

TODAY: Tens of thousands march in Moscow in honor of murdered Boris Nemtsov; Poroshenko says Nemtsov was about to release evidence of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine crisis; Nemtsov’s final interview given just hours before his death; Putin vows to find and punish killers; Fridman hires former BP exec; Pugachyov ordered to reveal trust income.